It’s after 11, and it’s too hot to sleep. All the windows are open. I’ve thrown off the covers. Siri says it’s currently 17°. On my way home at 7 PM, it was still 24°.

This isn’t normal where I live. This isn’t what the Julys of my childhood felt like. The reason people love to live on the southwest coast is because it never gets too hot and it never gets too cold. We get a little bit of snow, and then it’s gone. We get a little bit of heat, and then it’s gone. That’s how the seasons are supposed to work in the Lower Mainland.

I would spend all winter waiting for snow. I would spend all summer waiting for it to get hot enough to go swimming. This year, I wore my parka from November to March. This year, I could’ve gone swimming in May.